Locking device for folding ironing table legs



JuBy 24, 1951' H. L. VOIGT ET AL 2,562,074

LOCKQING DEVICE FOR FOLDING IRONING TABLE LEGS Filed July 5, 1948 INVENTORS HERBERT L. VOK'ZvT 1 Ramona W. @ERLACH A-rrommav l atented July 24, 1951 LOCKING DEVICE FOR FGLDING IRONING TABLE LEGS Herbert L. Vo'igt and Raymond W. swath, Milwaukee, Wis., assig'nors to Gender Paeschke' & Frey 00., Milwaukee, Wis, a corporation pf Wisconsin Application July s, 1948, .Serial No. 37,006.

. This invention relates to improvements in folding ironing tables, particularly to .a locking device for locking the folding legs of the table extended position. v

In tables of this type the front and rear legs are connected by links so that they swing .in unison from folded to extended position. By locking either the front or the rear legs with respect to the board both sets of legs will be held in extended position. It is essential, however, that the lock be under tension to secure rigidity of the legs while in extended position. Heretofore, the locking rod loosely encircled one of the legs and was loosely held against its outer ,surface by a guide, or waspivotally carried by a-slide which moved along one of the legs. The

,mere locking of the rod in the extended position of the legs did not put any tension between the rod and the leg and the considerable play resulting made the legs Wobbly. Because it is impractical to make a tight fit between the slide and the. leg, the legs will wobble in extended position. i It is an object of this invention, therefore, to

provide a folding ironing table in which the legs when locked in extended position are rigidly held and are not Wobbly.

Another object of the invention is to provide .a folding ironing table which has a leg-locking with the slotted leg when the legs are in the ,ex-

tended position. In the unfolding of the legs the angular relationship between the slotted leg and the locking rod increases. This inherent characteristic is utilized to swing the shoe so that its tongue is brought into pressure engagement with the leg approximately when said leg reaches its extended position. This tightens and places the sliding connection between the leg and said shoe under pressure. Thus a rigid connection is obtained between the locking rod and the leg in the extended position thereof. Such rigid connection prevents the legs from wobbling. Latching means is carried by the leg to engage the shoe seams. (o1.ss 11'7) tion.

when it is in the extended position. Such latch ing means is positionedso as to be automaticall} engaged and readily disengaged.

The novel features, whi I h are consideredlchafr' .acteristic of the invention, are set forth with par ticularity in the appended claims. 'Theiriv'ention itself, however, both as to its organization and its method of operation. together with "a'd'ditional objects and advantages thereoffwil'lfbest be understood from the following description f a specific embodiment when read' in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which? [i Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation of anironing table embodying the present invention;

, Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view from the line -12 -2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view taken from the line 3--3 of .Fig. 1; 1 Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on line L4 of i 2; 5i Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on line 5 ofFig. 2; and Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the shoeg'l, Referring to the drawing by reference" nu merals, the ironing table "10 is of custoniaryfde sign and is supported by a front leg. I2 and apair of rear legs l4 .(only one shown). The legs are pivoted to the table at "5 and I8, respectively. As is. conventional with thisconstruction the'rear legs spread apart as they move from foldedto extended position to give greater stability to. the table in such position. The linkage by which the spreading is accomplished forms nopart'of this invention and will not be herein described. A pair oflinks Z0 interconnect each of thefrear legs with the front leg at the pivotal connections indicated at 22 and 24, respectively. Byreasoii taken of this interconnection of the front leg and rear legs they swing in unison from the folded position to the extended position. Thus if either the front leg or the rear legs are locked with, respect to the board when in extended position, both the front and rear legs willbe .held in such; posi- In the exemplification herein described the locking mechanism includes a locking rod consisting of a pair of rods 26 and 21 pivotally mounted to the board by being pivotally interconnected with the pivots [8. The forward ends of these rods are rigidly secured to a shoe 28 as indicated at 29, such rigid interconnection being accomplished by riveting or projection Welding or otherwise securing each of the rods to the bottom of the shoe. The shoe is formed so that it has an upper bridge 30 which is slotted at the 48 (only one shown) and an abutment 50. lower half of the pivoted latch has a handle 52 2,562,074 2' 1f Ti sides to make a T 32. The forward portion of the shoe has an upwardly projecting tongue 34 braced against bending with respect to the body of the shoe by a formed rib 36. The front leg 12 has a forward wall 38 having cut therethrough a longitudinally extending slot 40. The width of the slot 48 is such as to slidably accommodate the neck part of the T 32. At its upper end the slot 48 has an enlarged opening 42 which will permit the bar of the T 32 to pass through the forward wall during assembly of the leg and locking bar. This opening, however, is positioned beyond the normal travel of the shoe 28 during folding and unfolding of the legs. Hence the T 32 will maintain the shoe 28 in sliding engagement with the forward Wall 38 as the legs are moved from folded to extended position. It is desirable to give the undersides of the cross bar of the T a slight taper, as indicated at 44 (see Fig. 5) so that only a very small part of the edge of the slot 40 will be normally engaged by the T 32. This will prevent the T from scraping an unsightly amount of the protective coating from the outer surface of the forward wall 38.

In the folded position of the legs the locking rods 26 and 21 are substantially parallel to the front leg [2 and the ends of those rods are bent downwardly so that the shoe 28 is tipped with respect to the inner surface of the forward wall 38 so that the end of the tongue 34 is spaced from that wall, as generally indicated at 35. As the legs unfold the angle between the leg I2 and the rods 26 and 21 increases and the end of the tongue 34 moves toward the inner surface of wall 38. As the legs approach the fully extended position the tongue 34 will engage the wall 38 under pressure and draw the T 32 tightly against the ,edge of slot 48. This takes out all of the looselatch 46. The latch 46 is pivoted on the pivot 24 and has an upper end provided with spaced teeth The which projects from the inside of the leg I2 where it may be readily engaged and be pressed inwardly for operation. A spring 54 mounted between the leg and the latch urges its upper end inwardly of the leg. The spring is conveniently held in place by projections 56 and 58 formed cated at 49 and the upper edges of the teeth 48 are slightly curved so that the teeth will ride up on the tongue as the shoe moves into its fully locked position and thus automatically cause engagement of the latch with the shoe. The abutment 50 keeps the teeth positioned so that their curved edges will be in alinement with and readily engage the slope 49 as the shoe moves toward the latch. To disengage the latch and fold the legs it is only necessary to depressthe handle 52, disengaging theteeth 48 from the shoe. Thereafter the shoe is free to slide in the slot 48 permitting the legs to be folded.

Although only one embodiment of the invention is shown and described herein, it will be understood that this application is intended to cover such changes or modifications as come within the spirit of the invention or scope of the following claims.

We claim:

1. A folding ironing table having a pair of rear legs, pivotal connections between said table and said legs permitting said legs to be swung forwardly from extended to folded position, a front leg having a forward wall, a pivotal connection between said front leg and said table spaced forwardly of said first pivotal connections and permitting said front leg to be swung forwardly from extended to fold position, links for connecting said rear legs with said front leg, pivotal connections between said legs and links spaced outwardly of said first and second pivotal connections so that said rear legs and front legs swing in unison between extended and folded positions, a locking rod pivotally mounted to said table at said first pivotal connection, a longitudinally extending slot in said forward wall between the pivotal connection between the front leg and said links and said table, and a shoe rigidly secured to said locking rod, said shoe having a T extending through said slot and engageable with the front side of said wall, said shoe having a tongue spaced from said T and engageable with the rear side of said wall, said T and shoe being 'alined with said wall so that in the extended po- REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 346,660 Jones Aug. 3, 1886 1,535,713 Belden Apr. 28, 1925 1,912,126 Corduan May 30, 1933 2,314,043

Howe Mar. 16, 1943 

